Douce France

I had an amazing experience today at Douce France. My bestie introduced this sweet adorable cafe to me today and I will definitely come back. The pastry and coffee was wonderful and the chocolates....oh la la c'est magnifique ! I would highly recommend this cafe to all my friends. The owner was very polite and friendly. The service, ambiance and company was excellent.

As far as the food was concerned, it was mostly awesome. I had a croissant with brie and an almond-almond tart with an Americano, and it was great. My wife ordered a baguette with brie with an amaratto latte with a chocolate croissant, and it was mostly exceptional. The shop keep was also very kind in greeting us and checking up on us.

What wasn't so great was our server. I don't know if she was having a bad day or not, but she really made a mess with our pretty basic order. The baguette was forgotten and the soup my wife asked for wasnt the right soup. Our server went on to have two foul customers yell and belittle her. The atmosphere which was pretty nice was otherwise ruined by some stuff that could easily be prevented.

Go for the food, and don't linger too long.

I love Douce France! While the general ambiance might not be ideal, it has the most incredible selection of French products which are otherwise really hard to find in Canada, and thus for me, every trip is a nostalgic indulgence (I should perhaps mention that I lived in France for 4 years, married a French woman and am a professor of French... so basically an utter francophile).

To begin by addressing some of the common reservations about this place, offering a nostalgic experience to French customers is precisely the point. In spite of that, the staff also do a great job at offering Canadian customers the possibility to discover a really interesting variety of regional French products that go well beyond the usual clichés of croissants and baguettes (though of course they have those too). In that sense, the prices are well worth it in that they'll save you the trouble of having to fly all the way to France to discover things like biscuits roses de Reims, Burgundian nonettes, or Bearnese gâteau à la broche. For that matter, everything in France is incredibly expensive, so I actually find the prices at Douce France very reasonable, considering that they really don't cost any more here than they would there.

It's true that the staff really like to talk up the products. This might not be the best strategy when dealing with customers who aren't familiar with them, and I can see why some people find that it just comes off as pushy and maybe a bit snotty. What they could perhaps do more (and what customers should feel free to ask) is highlight what to do with some of these products, and some of the ways they can really add some original flair to a dish or a gathering.

Case in point: many of my friends can't understand my excitement at the sight of a package of biscuits roses de Reims. "They're just pink lady fingers! Just as dry and tasteless as the cheaper lady fingers you could get from the supermarket", they say. Well first of all, that's not strictly true. They have a subtle aroma of vanilla (Natural! No cheap-ass extracts... you can even see the seeds in the biscuits if you look closely), and they're meant to be dipped in a glass of champagne... seriously! If that's too extravagant, you can dip them in red wine too, they're really good that way! Or use them in a dessert. Imagine a delicious strawberry or raspberry charlotte with pink biscuits around the edge, making the charlotte entirely pink and lending a subtle aroma of vanilla to the whole dessert. Or, crumble them and make a soufflé glacé or semifredo! Or, if that's still too boring, get the croquignoles instead, which have a crispy meringue texture with a delicious chocolate coating on the bottom that lends some extra oomph and a bit of contrasting bitterness (also good crushed into soufflés glacés, btw). Alright owners, these are the sorts of suggestions you should be making.

The sit-down café side of Douce France has really developed over the years (it used to really be more of a shop). It's still not ideal and probably never will be: it will always be a collection of tables in the middle of a shop, and people will bustle past you to examine the shelves behind you. So it's not the most relaxing or spacious ambiance. Then again, cramped and busy conditions are also part of the authentic French experience! Surely anyone who has ever been to a French café knows this. Besides, chilling out is not what you go to Douce France for: you go for the dizzying array of sweets. One thing that is less authentically French (in a good way) is the service, which is very friendly and helpful. The staff are nice, not rushed, not pushy, and are happy to give suggestions to try to find the right thing to go with your drink or to suit your taste.

I wish they would choose some music that is a bit less kitschy, though. The accordion music, the Brassens, Piaf and Trenet tends to perpetuate this touristy, old-fashioned image of France which I guess has its charm, but it'd be great to at least mix it up with something a bit more modern. Proprietors, if you're reading this, I'd be happy to lend you my Thomas Fersen discs if you'd like =)

But altogether, Douce France is a great place to get a sugar fix, to discover new things, or to pick up a gift basket for friends. I'm extremely happy that Toronto has a place like it!